Bryant Kite, Cherie's son, was a rising senior in the summer of 2007 – a great-looking young man, popular and outgoing, an honor student and a star baseball at Cordova High School in Tennessee with major college baseball aspirations and thoughts of possibly becoming a doctor. But a freak one-car accident in the early- morning hours on that July 12.

 

Rickard was 2,000 miles away from Bryant on that night, in a Southern California hotel room, away on business trip, when her phone rang.

If your telephone rings at 2:21am, odds are it can't be good news!

Although Rickard is candid and enlightening in relating the events of that call and the aftermath, the book doesn't begin there and it certainly does not end there. Rickard, a Register Nurse and Medical Business Professional Consultant, has dedicated her life to helping people turn tragedies like she lived through into triumph. "Wake-Up Call" does just that.

“A mom has always thought at one time or another that it could be possible to lose a child to death but she never entertains that thought for more than a second because the instant pain that hits you is often a sneak peek into a world she never wants to imagine”

I thought it would be most helpful to help others if they are ever face to face with a mother who has lost her child. We know you want to help but please avoid these empty and hurtful statements:

1.   They wouldn't want you to be sad

We know that but we are in complete devastation and although this may be helpful years down the road, it’s not going to bring you a good response from a newly grieving parent.

 

2.    She/he are in a better place

Regardless of your faith nobody no mother wants to hear her child is better off without her and that’s exactly what she will hear.

 

3.    You need to move on

Are you nuts! I can’t imagine why anyone would think its ok to tell a mother this ever. We never move on. We learn to deal and live without our child in the physical word. 

4.     You have "living" children here that need you!

A mother is always aware of how many children she has and we never stop being a mother to all of them. Temporarily she may needs some support to help during that first year. Be her other children ride to school or day out at the park.  

5.    You have so much to be grateful for

A good mother is always grateful for her children. If she has monetary belongings she would easily trade them all in an instant for her child back, so leave this comment alone.  

6.    You will see him again. She/he wouldn't want you this way

See her child again needs to be immediately or it brings no comfort to a mother who has buried her child. Later as she has moved to the acceptance stage this wouldn’t be so bothersome or unwanted.  

7.    You just need to keep busy

We can barely get out of bed to use the bathroom for weeks, sometimes months so don’t ask her to clean her house or start a scrapbook. Instead why don’t you show your love for her and clean her house for her. After a year you can encourage her to use her tragedy to help others.

 

"She's a very special lady," Spivey said. Dy with the Ascension Sheriff’s office and chaplain. 

"And, her book is one anyone contending with grief and loss should read. Cherie is painfully honest in her description of how to deal with grief God's way. Her book is not an "impersonal" or "clinical" step-by-step manual of how to deal with the stages of grief. Instead, it is refreshingly thoughtful and an honest look into how a Christian parent can grieve with hope after losing a child."

 

"Wake-Up Call – the call that changes your life forever" is available for preview and purchase at
 www.Wake-UpCallBook.com.

For information, please visit:

www.wake-upcallbook.com